fatal love

chapter 143

"Fellow Marauders," James said proudly, walking up and down the dorm, "and, of course, Honourary Marauder; the time has now come."

Sirius' knee was bouncing up and down in excitement. He was sat with Lily, Pete and Remus, as they listened to James give his biggest pep talk yet.

"It has been a magnificent seven years," James continued thoughtfully, looking out of the window. "Great progress has been made: friendships have been forged in the fire of rebellion, enemies vanquished in the storm of mischief, progress has been gifted upon all wizardkind in the name of pranking!"

Sirius whistled excitedly, Pete clapped, Remus cheered. Lily was looking a bit lost.

"The legend of the Marauders will haunt this castle for evermore!" James declared. "And while our time here is soon to end physically, our legacy shall never die! In fact, never again will there be a group of students with such intelligence, such humour, such ingenuity, such sex appeal-"

"Okay, James," Lily interrupted, "is all this really nece-"

"Please hold all comments until the end," James said, not looking at her.

Lily paused, and then sighed. "Proceed."

"Thank you. Now as I was saying, the Marauders are not just once in a generation, not just once in a lifetime, not even once in a century! We are one of a kind! And it is fitting that here, in the dorm where we planned our very first prank, we gather before our very last."

That was Sirius' cue, and he leapt up. "Right now," he announced, "hundreds of unsuspecting students are enjoying their final dinner before exams start. The professors are eating with them - distracted, complacent, naive .

"They think we've grown up!" Sirius shouted. "They think we've matured, outgrown our old ways! Is that true?"

"NO!" yelled Remus and Pete.

"Will we ever outgrow our ways?"

"NEVER!"

"WHO ARE WE?"

" THE MARAUDERS!"

The four of them all jumped up then cheering.

"OUR MIGHTY FIST OF CHAOS WILL RULE THIS CASTLE!" James bellowed.

Lily was looking seriously disturbed.

"Evans!" James whined. "Where's your Marauder spirit?"

"Oh, bloody hell, fine!" Lily muttered.

The boys all turned to look at her expectantly.

"To chaos!" she yelled, and burst out laughing.

"TO CHAOS!"

They celebrated for another thirty seconds, setting off explosions of sparks and lights with their wands as they cheered, and then Remus took over.

"Comrades!" he barked, full of authority, and Sirius found himself eyeing Remus up and down appreciatively. "The mission has now begun!"

They all silenced themselves at once, and Remus nodded approvingly.

"Very good. Now, to the Entrance Hall!"

They walked quietly through the castle. The corridors were empty, but a buzz of noise was coming from the Great Hall. Sirius glanced around. Even if she hadn't quite understood the theatrics beforehand, Evans was looking excited now.

"Messer Prongs," Remus whispered, "do you have the supplies?"

James nodded, producing the Invisibility Cloak.